Donna is known worldwide as one of the most innovative and creative instructors in the world of polymer clay art. She has been working with the medium and teaching for over 20 years and is the co-founder of online teaching site, CraftArtEdu.com. She loves sharing her techniques and tips with other clay enthusiasts. Her art draws inspiration from japanese aesthetics; exuberant, colorful manga as well as sophisticated, delicate, inro boxes .

Over the years Donna has been a regular guest on The Carol Duvall Show and has also appeared on numerous other television craft shows. Donna has worked with just about every clay company, Cernit, Polyform, Fimo. Finally, she decided to create her own brand of clay that specificely caters to the increased demands of artists. Kato polyclay has been on the market for more than a decade and is worldwide loved by professional creators as well as hobbyists.

LESLIE BLACKFORD (USA)

Nature is one of her biggest passions in life and one of the biggest inspirations in her work. It’s not uncommon to find that she has incorporated natural materials into her clay like, rocks, dirt, feathers, or the lavender she grows.
Leslie is known for her ability to express raw emotion in her work. What she feels flies out of her fingertips and becomes Leslie Art. This process is as natural to her as breathing. Polymer clay is the media that she expresses herself with. She is a self taught artist who teaches nationally and internationally.

BETTINA WELKER (Germany)

Bettina Welker is an accomplished graphic and jewelry designer who has been working with polymer clay since 2003. Bettina was awarded 1st place in the Intermediate Art Jewelry category in the International Polymer Clay Association’s Progress & Possibilities Competition in 2011. Since 2007, she taught private classes in her home studio, all over Europe and in the US. Bettina self published her first book “Edle Schmuck-Unikate & Accessoires aus Polymer Clay” in 2009 and her second book “Polymer Clay Bracelets” in summer 2012, available through her website. She is also the co-founder of the German polymer clay guild.

As a trained graphic designer, Bettina is a master of shape, spaces, color, and composition. In her work, she always tries to feature the unique properties of polymer clay as an art medium. Design plays a very important part in her work and she endeavours to finish her pieces as flawlesly as possible.

Cornelia Brockstedt (Germany)

As a trained goldsmith and with a diploma as a product designer Conny runs her own small graphic design agency in the far North of Germany for more than 19 years now. In 2011 she started to combine her skills in returning to jewelry by working with polymer and silver.

Conny is attracted by simple, clean shapes and tiny structures she finds in nature or even in the cities faces. The play of light and shadow frequently leads to her design and she loves to challenge herself and the material she works with. Conny understands jewelry as a form of communication. Interactions between wearer and observer are encouraged by creating tactile and sometimes surprising pieces.

In 2014 Conny won IPCA-Awards in the categories „Best in Jewelry” and “Members Favorite” with her flexible bangle „City skies“ and she started teaching in 2015.

Olga Nicolas (France)

Olga has always loved art and creating and she has tried various manual activities such as painting, sculpting, pottery, basket weaving and copper enamels… She is always interested in trying new artistic medias. She discovered polymer clay in 2005. Quickly she spent more and more time with polymer clay and dropped her beads and embroidery. This medium has given her all the creative freedom she was seeking for.

She has a strong preference for surface techniques and is fascinated by colors. As time went by, she dropped colors straight out of the package and now tends to work mainly with black and white clay combining it to mediums such as acrylic and oil paints, inks, pastels. Testing and searching bring her many joys.

As a former school teacher, sharing her passion with others was a “must be”. She is lucky to have her own studio on her property in Lyon where she welcomes students as often as possible since 2009. She also teaches online classes on CraftArtEdu and is invited for workshops in France, and in Europe.